What an irony! Karl Nunes walked out to captain the West Indies in their First ever Test, played against England in 1928—he was a wicketkeeper/batsman and today Denesh Ramdin the wicketkeeper/batsman, will skipper the Caribbean side in their 500th Test match. When Ramdin tosses the coin against Bangladesh today at the Beausejour Cricket Stadium in St Lucia, it will mark a very significant milestone in the history of West Indies cricket.
Ramdin will personally like to register a victory on this occasion and upstage Nunes who led the West Indies to defeat in their first Test. The West Indies have won 162 matches out of the 500 and a victory in this one, will give them a series whitewash, as they lead the 2-match series 1-0. A win there would give them a one point in the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test rankings. Ramdin and his boys go into this one a confident bunch, after their crushing ten-wicket victory in the opening match at Arnos Vale in St Vincent.
Speaking on the eve of the match said, “It is very important that we play competitive cricket but the Bangladeshis are not going to lie down. They have aggressive batters so our bowlers need to be on par with them. We have to take our chances in the slip cordon, if we want to win this match. This match is a very signficant one for the West Indies as we have reached 500 matches and the players would love nothing more than to give the fans a victory.” The West Indies received a blow before the match with the news that big opener Chris Gayle, who scored a half century in St Vincent, is out due to personal reasons.
With Gayle out, it is unlikely that West Indies will drop Kirk Edwards despite his run of low scores during this series. Edwards could well open considering Leon Johnson has mostly played at No 3 in first-class cricket. With a 1-0 lead to fall back on, it is also unlikely that they would pick a five-man bowling attack by bringing in either Jason Holder or Shane Shillingford. Bangladesh on the other hand also has problems as they are without Imrul Kayes.
The opener has a skin infection and will most likely be replaced by Anamul Haque, who scored a century in the opening limited overs international in Grenada. Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim is not a happy man at the moment. “You cannot save a Test match by scoring 70s or 80s. I made a hundred in the first Test but that still didn’t matter in the end. The main target should be to get set and ensure that the innings should be 100 to 150. I am hoping for that to happen.” Bangladesh's confidence has taken a significant hit with a 3-0 defeat in the ODIs before conceding the St Vincent Test.
They batted better in the second innings but still could only manage a negligible target. They are also unsure on using Al-Amin Hossain because of the scrutiny on his action. The obvious risk is that the umpires may call him again but Sohag Gazi played the third ODI after he was reported. The pitch at the Beausejour is expected to assist the West Indies quicks and pacer Shannon Gabriel in particular has had great success here.
RESULTS
Teams
West Indies: Denesh Ramdin, Kraigg Brathwaite, Kirk Edwards, Leon Johnson, Darren Bravo, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Jermaine Blackwood, Jerome Taylor, Kemar Roach, Shannon Gabriel and Suleiman Benn.
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (capt), Tamim Iqbal, Shamsur Rahman, Anamul Haque, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Mahmudullah, Shuvagata Hom, Robiul Islam, Al-Amin Hossain, Taijul Islam and Rubel Hossain.
